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Prof Yiu-tung Suen of the Gender Studies Programme has been interviewed on the US Supreme Court’s landmark decision on 17th June 2020 which rules that LGBT workers are protected from discrimination in the workplace.

Speaking to the Radio Television Hong Kong, Prof Suen said mandatory workplace protection would be a good place to start given there’s public support for the idea and businesses are already taking steps to protect their LGBT employees.

Suen said that research shows that LGBT people in the SAR face unfriendly attitudes from bosses and colleagues and may even be denied jobs, and that this may be more common in sectors like education and healthcare, with interviewees telling him that coming out would be “career suicide”. However, his research has shown that support for protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is quite high, and that earlier this year, a study he carried out showed that opposition to this kind of protection has dropped to “a historical low” of 12 percent. He told RTHK: “The government has to answer why they are not responsive to both the general public, the LGBT community as well as the business community.”

Media Coverage:

RTHK